Furious on Film 03.11.10: The Post Oscar Fall-Out Edition
Posted by Arnold Furious on 03.11.2010
Post Oscar features, the search for Captain America continues, Sandra Bullock’s Razzie and more
Furious on Film: The Post Oscar Fall-Out Edition
Post Oscar features, the search for Captain America continues, Sandra Bullock's Razzie and more
RIP Corey Haim
As I was in the process of writing this report I heard the news that actor Corey Haim had passed away aged just 38. LAPD: "Haim was taken from his mother's apartment in Oakwood to a Burbank hospital, where he was pronounced dead at about 3:30 a.m from an apparent accidental drug overdose". Haim was an up and coming star in the 1980s when he appeared in hit teen movies The Lost Boys, Licence to Drive and Lucas. Haim struggled with his success and fought an ongoing battle with drug addiction that destroyed his career and his friendships within Hollywood. Despite a recent success with reality TV show The Two Coreys Haim couldn't overcome his off-screen problems. Corey Feldman stated after the series finished that he wouldn't continue to work with Haim until he got help for his drug problems. It seems that help never came. Here at 411 our thoughts go out to Corey Haim's family and friends at this time.
RIP.
The 2010 Oscars in the bag for the respective winners and it was a big night for Kathryn Bigelow; the first female director to ever win an Academy Award for best director. Her movie The Hurt Locker was really good although in years to come people will probably remember Avatar as the big movie. That said Cameron's Titanic beat a superior film for acting and plot in LA Confidential. So maybe turnabout was fair play. Cameron has his 2.5 billion dollar hit regardless. He should have no problem getting anything he wants made in the future.
Jeff Bridges bagged his first Academy Award for his excellent performance in Crazy Heart. Bridges was supposed to be a big star in the 1980s with Starman and TRON. So this is long overdue for him. His previous acting nominations were for performances that weren't quite good enough to win. This year it all came good. It was also a big weekend for Sandra Bullock who not only picked up the Academy Award for best actress but also scooped a Razzie the previous night. She's the first performer to win both in the same weekend. Like Halle Berry she turned up to accept her Razzie in person too. Perhaps safe in the knowledge that her Academy Award was pretty much a done deal. Here's what she had to say…
As you've probably seen the Oscar Roundtable picks again didn't work out for me. Second last this year only beaten to the wooden spoon by Mr Lealos' 7/22. Still 13/22 is over 50% and it shows how accurate we were at 411. Some of the Academy's wackier choices this year included the bizarre selections for the shorts. Logorama in particular, which wasn't really in the running according to most experts. I also made the mistake of rooting for Burma VJ when all common sense said that The Cove would win because people love dolphins. Music By Prudence was another strange result that I didn't see coming. Several of the documentary shorts were better choices. In other areas I guess I rated Avatar's score more highly than the Academy members. I thought it was great. My main two failings came in the screenplay categories where I should have known better than to bet against Mark Boal, which I didn't but for the 411 Roundtable I went against my money, and Geoffrey Fletcher's screenplay for Precious. Next year, next year.
NEWS!
Who will be Captain America?
News coming out of Marvel is that the choice for Captain America is down to four contenders. Previously reports had claimed John Krasinski was the frontrunner to take the role. After landing a role in TV show the Office in 2005 Krasinski has appeared in a string of movies in supporting roles. This would have been his big breakout role. Fox had previously reported it was "very likely" that Krasinski would play Captain America. BUT yesterday Deadline New York claimed Marvel had a shortlist of four names and Krasinski wasn't on that list. So who is? Here's the four names rumoured to be Marvel's shortlist…
1. Chris Evans.
Evans has already worked for Marvel and they obviously liked him but having played one iconic Marvel character already it's unlikely he'd be cast as Captain America as well. He previously starred as Johnny Storm aka the Human Torch in the two Fantastic Four movies. He also appeared in superpowers movie Push. He's the most experienced of the four but his past work with Marvel may well eliminate him from the race. On the plus side he's perhaps got the biggest personality and is the biggest name. Then whoever is Steve Rogers would need to have a big enough personality to keep Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark in check. Director Joe Johnston is said to not be a fan, which could count against him and lead to everyone agreeing on someone else.
2. Wilson Bethel.
The son of author Joyce Maynard is the least experienced of those involved in the selection process. His experience is mostly in TV shows and he's currently a regular on soap opera the Young and the Restless. Of the four he's the least likely to win the role. Mainly because of his lack of acting experience but also because he doesn't really fit the mould of a super soldier.
3. Garrett Hedlund.
Garrett hasn't even tested for the role yet. And one would think he's unlikely because of that and his apparent lack of interest in playing the role. I saw him in Troy and again in Four Brothers and he acquitted himself well in both of those. But you look at him and he looks kinda goofy. Which is fine before he's wearing the uniform but afterwards not so. I just don't see him as a superhero. He's about to appear in Tron Legacy and whether he'll prove himself as an action star could be a deal breaker. He's been busy, which possibly helps his cause but because he's in demand he's not had time to see Marvel yet. Again this is a choice that I don't think will work out in the long run.
4. Mike Vogel.
He looks the most like Steve Rogers, which would help bring the fanboys onboard a little more. They already seem a touch disappointed with the concept that Joe Johnston has been touting. An all-singing, all-dancing, USO Cap doesn't really do it for them, or me. Vogel would need to beef himself up a bit to convincingly play the role. And if they're going with the muscle suit option that could make the whole thing a joke. Of those listed Evans is the only one with the physique of a superhero. Vogel has the look elsewhere. But they want to start shooting in April, which would give Vogel no time to do some bodybuilding in the lead up to shooting. He'd have to work out during the shoot and that could cause continuity errors galore. Like when Homer was the superhero Everyman!
My own personal choice would be Sam Worthington but the success of Avatar would certainly price him out of the role. With time running out Marvel either need to make a decision or delay the film. If they rush in with a guy attached at the last minute it could quickly become a farce. And remember Captain America has to be larger than life. The kind of man you'd follow into the valley of death if he requested you do so. They can't get the casting wrong or they risk ruining their whole Avengers concept and their ongoing Marvel universe. Marvel may have to just accept that they need a bigger name and spend some money on him.
Sequels, sequels, sequels
Liev Schreiber told io9 that Hugh Jackman has been in touch about the latest Wolverine movie. Seems Jackman has already read the script, which is set in Japan where Wolverine learned the ways of the samurai. Schreiber is keen to repeat his role as Sabretooth but it seems Jackman isn't giving anything away just yet and hasn't told Schreiber whether he'll be involved in the second film. Wolverine 2 is scheduled to start shooting early 2011.
Men in Black 3 is scheduled for a 2011 release and early casting details are somewhat vague. According to Bloody-Disgusting.com Josh Brolin, Sasha Baron-Cohen and Flight of the Conchords star Jermaine Clement are in the running for roles in the new film. With Columbia remaining tight-lipped on its casting choices nothing concrete is forthcoming.
Tintin release date confirmed
Steven Spielberg's next major project is the Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, which presumably would encompass both Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure. According to Wikipedia it will also involve storyline aspects from Crab with the Golden Claws too showing how Tintin came to meet his friend Captain Haddock. Distributors Paramount have announced a 23rd December 2011 release date for the film with global release preceding that. It's set to be released around the world from October 2011 perhaps because Tintin is seen more as a European property than a North American one.
The film is presently into post-production with Weta involved in creating some digital effects. The film is being directed by Steven Spielberg. The cast includes Jamie Bell as Tintin, Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock and British comedy duo Simon Pegg & Nick Frost as Thomson and Thompson. Daniel Craig will also appear as Red Rackham.
Nolan Speaks
Christopher Nolan gave his first interview in some time this week to the LA Times. He's awaiting the release of his film with Leonardo DiCaprio that comes out this July called Inception. The movie is being described as a metaphysical heist movie. I don't know how you market that but the trailers I've seen so far look amazing. The future is rosy for Chris Nolan. He's taken over ownership of the whole DC universe it seems with his involvement in the forthcoming Superman film. His initial comments have applauded Bryan Singer's efforts in making Superman Returns and connecting it to earlier Superman efforts from Richard Donner. Nolan wants the new Superman film to be a stand alone effort though, which is probably for the best as Singer seemed to be painting himself into a corner during the plot of Returns. "A lot of people have approached Superman in a lot of different ways. I only know the way that has worked for us that's what I know how to do," – Nolan. The involvement in Superman came because of screenwriter David S Goyer who's worked with Nolan on the Batman franchise.
During a struggle to determine the storyline elements of the third Batman film Goyer basically pitched his idea for a new Superman film. Nolan loved it and they've since moved on. Goyer has since started work on the screenplay and Nolan has taken the concept to the studio. Nolan was quick to shoot down the rumour of his involvement in a Justice League picture suggesting his Batman and Superman existed in different worlds not just different cities. He wouldn't give away the potential bad guy of Superman but did suggest that rumours his brother Jonathan was set to direct was just a rumour. The director remains unset.
For Batman 3 Jonathan Nolan is very much involved in an attempt to write a storyline epic enough to follow on from the Dark Knight. Chris Nolan hints in the interview that the series will conclude with the third film resolving the issues created by the series. When quizzed on who will be the bad guy of the third film he merely stated that it "won't be Mr Freeze". Apparently that character is a little too odd for his grounded Gotham City.
TRAILERS!
For those who missed the BADASS new Iron Man 2 trailer here it is. It does a LOT to allay the fears I was having after seeing early footage from the film. I should probably have had more faith in Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. All I can say after watching it is "wow". It really gave me the same feeling as when I saw the first footage from the first film. Here it is;
Earlier I mentioned Tron Legacy; the long awaited sequel to 1980s sci-fi action film TRON. Looks like they've really captured the feel of the original, which is something that worried many of fans of the first film. It's also in sparkly 3-D and should be a fun cinematic experience.
For those interested here's the trailer for Just Wright starring Queen Latifah and Common.
And for the teenage girls out there here's 10 seconds of footage from the latest Twilight movie.
OSCAR SPECIAL
"I'm going to Disneyland" or What I did after winning my Oscar
Cast your mind back 12 months if you will. The Oscars were over for another year and there were 20+ new winners of Academy Awards. What happened to them after that? Let's take a look at last years big winners.
CHRISTIAN COLSON (producer: Slumdog Millionaire). Produced Neil Marshall movie Centurion. He also had The Decent 2 come out. He was a breakthrough producer on the first film. He's also producing Danny Boyle's next movie 127 Hours.
SEAN PENN (actor; Milk). After picking up his second Academy Award he went on to make Fair Game with Doug Liman. Co-starring once again with Naomi Watts. After that he's working with Terry Malick on The Tree of Life co-starring Brad Pitt. Given Malick's reputation that could conceivably be in the running for best picture next year. He's also signed on to appear in the Three Stooges.
KATE WINSLET (actress; The Reader). She'll next be seen in a star-studded comedy from Peter Farrelly (of the Farrelly Brothers). That stars, among others, Hugh Jackman, Gerard Butler, Naomi Watts, Sam Rockwell and Sean William Scott. There's a lot of secrecy and the film doesn't even have a name yet. She's also set to star in Steven Soderbergh's movie Contagion with Matt Damon, Marion Cottilard and Jude Law.
HEATH LEDGER (supporting actor; The Dark Knight). Obviously Heath was already deceased prior to the ceremony but his final film The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus finally saw the light of day and was nominated for 2 Oscars this year.
PENELOPE CRUZ (supporting actress; Vicky Cristina Barcelona). The busiest of the acting winners she's appeared in several films. The Cannibalistic Councillor, Broken Embraces, G-Force and was Oscar nominated again for her role in Nine. She's going to be in Sex in the City 2 and is rumoured to be joining the cast of Pirates of the Caribbean when they make the 4th movie in 2011.
DANNY BOYLE (director; Slumdog Millionaire). Is currently filming 127 Hours about a trapped mountain climber. It stars James Franco. Boyle is also set to direct Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday, in the future.
CHART WATCH
We always get the run-down on the top 10 movies in the US. 411 does a post updating it every weekend and it's covered in other news columns at the head of the week. With Chart Watch I thought I'd take a look at how certain movies are doing on the all-time lists. And in other countries. Here's this week's Chart Watch;
2010 Releases;
WHAM! Hear that? That was Alice in Wonderland hitting the box office chart. The staggering opening weekend was, frankly, a shock. Perhaps it benefits from being the first big effects picture of the year. Perhaps Tim Burton has more fans than I imagined. Regardless of the reasoning it dropped a whopping $210M in its global release opening weekend, which is HUGE. The US market alone saw it hammer home $116M. It's smashed every other movie released so far this year in a weekend. It's the first $200M global release of 2010. It's a huge, huge success. It's already outdone Valentine's Day for the #1 slot in the US and globally and it shows the benefits of being the first really big release of the season. Alice has the 14th biggest global opening weekend in history although everything above it has been released in the past 7 years. Avatar is only at #9 interestingly enough. Also interesting to note that Shutter Island has bypassed Wolfman and now occupies the #4 slot on the biggest earners of the year so far.
All Time!!
Avatar is finally showing signs of slowing down. Now taking less than $10M per week it's rounded up its overall haul to $720M domestic. Alice opened at #334 if anyone was interested. Globally Avatar has pulled down $2.55 billion. The $720M mark in the US means that it's now surpassed the adjusted box office take of Return of the Jedi making it the 14th biggest money making film of all time. It needs another $25M domestic to pass Ben-Hur. Chances are it'll get that spot and the one after it but it needs another $100M to crack the all time top ten. Even with the freaky money coming in it's unlikely to do that.
March
300 was the previous record holder for a March opening weekend with $76M. Naturally that record is gone. Alice opened to $116M setting a new benchmark. Watchmen opened to $55M last March showing that Alice's achievements aren't exactly easy to achieve. Watchmen was a big budget blockbuster that opened earlier in the year to try and avoid the big summer pictures. Didn't exactly work out for Zach Snyder and the crew. It has for Tim Burton. Big time. In fact it's also the biggest Spring opening of all time beating the previous record holder; Fast & Furious from last year.
Movers and shakers
With Tim Burton having the big new release let's see how it fairs against his other movies so far with this Burton Top Ten!
1. BATMAN $251M
2. CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY $206M
3. PLANET OF THE APES $180M
4. BATMAN RETURNS $162M
5. ALICE IN WONDERLAND $116M
6. SLEEPY HOLLOW $101M
7. BEETLEJUICE $73M
8. BIG FISH $66M
9. EDWARD SCISSORHANDS $56M
10. CORPSE BRIDE $53M
Depending on whether we see a big second weekend drop-off with the release of Green Zone Alice has a shot at getting pretty high up Burton's all-time list. It should move up a place next week and should, in theory, grab second spot without too much bother. It seems that mixed reviews haven't affected people going to see the movie so chances are word of mouth, which has also been mixed, won't make a difference either. Alice is the big release for March and regardless of what people think of it the movie going public was clearly interested. Batman might be a touch out of reach although the $250M budget means it'll have to go for Alice to turn a profit. Time will tell.
BROOKLYNS FINEST
In terms of the dirty cop movie Brooklyn's Finest debuts with more money than Narc and Kurt Russell's movie Dark Blue. Its $13.5M opening weekend places it in 16th in the list of dirty cop films. The Departed is the all time champion of dirty cop films grossing $132M during it's run. Providing it doesn't have a shocking drop off it should crack the top ten beating Internal Affairs $27M.
COP OUT
It might have taken a critical beating but Kevin Smith's first movie without a Kevin Smith script has topped $32M. That makes it a success on two fronts. Firstly it goes into the black by recovering the $30M budget and secondly it surpasses the $31M haul from Zach & Miri Make a Porno and therefore is Kevin Smith's biggest money maker of his career. So he might be getting lousy reviews but the green never lies. This picture made money.
HORROR REMAKES
Wolfman is up to #8 on the horror remake chart from #11 last week. The Crazies also steps up to #29 up eight places from last week.
Avatar Watch
James Cameron mentally counts how much money he's made today
12th Weekend history isn't quite getting the beating that Avatar has dished out to the other 11 weekends. Titanic was still going strong after 12 weeks with $17M banked. Avatar has even dropped behind Home Alone this week. That movie managed $7.8M in its 12th weekend. Avatar is starting to slip away somewhat.
Over the Pond
In the UK, like the rest of the world, the debut of Alice in Wonderland crushed the opposition. Avatar had enjoyed 11 weeks atop the UK charts but was unseated by the release of Tim Burton's movie. Burton's film took 10.5 million pounds in its opening weekend. The #2 movie; Avatar, made less than 1 million pounds the same weekend, which shows the dominance of Alice. It still has a long way to beat Avatar's box office in the UK though. It has grossed over 88 million pounds so far.
That's it for this week. Here's a few links before you go…
411's Post Oscars Roundtable. Congratulations to movies boss Chad Webb for winning the Roundtable and predicting 17 out of 22 Oscars correctly. That's TV pundit territory!
